The Champs-Elysées prepares to light up with a new design for Christmas

To greet the holiday season, the Champs-Elysées are going to be decked out in newly designed Christmas lights, transforming one of Paris’ most popular streets into a work of art.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the popular French actor Omar Sy will switch on the Christmas lights adorning the 200 trees along the popular shopping avenue on Thursday 20th November at 6pm. Visitors to the Champs-Elysées will be able to enjoy the lights until 7th January 2015.

Designed by the French firm Blachère Illuminations, the new Christmas lights will form garlands of LEDs in the trees lining the Champs-Elysées with a design which is both contemporary and magical.

Entitled ‘Scintillance’, the newly designed Christmas lights are also environmentally friendly. Since 2006, the energy required to power the Champs-Elysées Christmas lights over their 48 night-run has fallen by 97% from 480,000kWh to 10,990kWh today, the equivalent of the energy consumed by a typical Parisian apartment block housing nine four-person families over the same period. In addition, the quantity of energy consumed by the Champs-Elysées Christmas lights this year will be offset by the energy produced by a company specialised in solar energy production (Soitec) which is partnering the illuminations.